Square Enix has brought back the Chocobo races from the original Final Fantasy 7. How could they not, Chocobo Square and its races were simply legendary at the time.
You decide for yourself whether you like the new chocobo races or not. Feel free to write in the comments what you think of the implementation in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.
But one question arises with the whole selection of Chocobos. Which Chocobo is actually the best? And which Chocobo can I use to win all the races?
In fact, there is one candidate with whom I have personally won all the races one after the other. And that’s despite the fact that I don’t necessarily have the best skills when it comes to racing games.
But you can’t go too far wrong with this chocobo and the way it plays, so I’d like to show you my best chocobo, with which I was finally able to master all the races after much deliberation.
The problem with the Chocobo races
Let’s be honest. The beginner rounds in Chocobo Square are quite easy, as the opposing players are constantly running into each other. But from the silver and gold levels at the latest, it gets a bit more difficult.
The big problem is all the obstacles that are everywhere on the tracks. I’ve noticed that I get the most penalty points in time by running into a closing reactor door. Or I get pushed away by a moving cube. Pain in the ass.
In short, however, you can say that the races are quite doable overall, even for me as a racing beginner. Only the obstacles are a real problem in my opinion.
The solution to the problem: the right Chocobo
At the end of the day, there are lots of chocobos that we can unlock and choose from. But there is one feathered candidate that I think does particularly well in this type of race and that is the Jungle Chocobo. You can get it in the Gongaga region.
All chocobos have a unique ability, but the Jungle Chocobo has the choco jump skill and can therefore jump over obstacles. In my opinion, hardly any other chocobo can match it.
Briefly about the other Chocobos: There are Chocobos that have abilities like the green and red tanks we know from Mario Kart. And that’s really powerful at first glance. But my thought was this: What good is such a tank if I literally run into every obstacle? Nothing at all.
Okay, fine. You could now argue that I shouldn’t run into every obstacle. But I think that’s easier said than done in the later races in Chocobo Square in the remake. So I came up with the jumping Jungle Chocobo.
First of all, would you like to know which Chocobo customization I used to complete all the races? I played all the races with the same customization. I used the following customization for each race:
- Treasure hunter’s cap: Brings the skill “Bold curves”, which improves your cornering ability!
- Mystic Bustier: Gives you the skill “Schaulaufen”, which increases your speed if you are in 1st place in the last round.
- Mystic anklet: Brings the skill “Master of Sprint”, which increases speed and acceleration on straight stretches.
You notice the latter in particular time and again during the rounds. The fact that you get a small boost by mastering the sprint is not without its drawbacks. And you can secure your place at the front of the field by running in plain sight, so if you do have a little mishap, it’s no big deal.
Keep in mind that you can buy these customizations at any Chocobo Stable or directly in Chocobo Square at the Gold Saucer. And I’m sure you can do it with other customizations too. Because the key to success is the Jungle Chocobo.
What do I have to watch out for during the races?
The Jungle Chocobo opens up a unique playstyle. We now have a feather friend who has a jumping ability. That sounds a bit low at first, admittedly. But in practice, it’s a real high-flyer.
First of all, we can skip the normal obstacles such as the extremely annoying reactor gates. This is a real benefit, as we always come to the moment where we have to choose between the open or closed door. And if we make the wrong choice, the chocobo comes to a complete standstill. A real disaster for every race.
But there are also the more inconspicuous obstacles that can also be a problem. These obstacles include
- Grassy areas: Our chocobo slows down on grassy areas. You can avoid this by jumping over grassy areas.
- Water surfaces: Similar to the gliding chocobo from the Cosmo region, the Jungle Chocobo can also “glide” over water surfaces, only it can jump.
- Bomber: Enemy bombers attack each chocobo and explode. A jump over the head of a bomber prevents this.
- Slowing fields: Backward-facing squares slow the chocobo down considerably, so why not jump over them?
So you quickly realize that there really are an incredible number of situations in which the Jungle Chocobo with Choco Jump can be put to good use.
At first I also thought that he could jump. Wow, mega great! But when you take a closer look at the chocobos and their individual abilities, it ends up being a real chocobo grenade! In my opinion, the forest chocobo is the best chocobo in the game.
What should I look out for with this Chocobo?
There are a few things you should definitely look out for when you’re whizzing through the Gold Saucer with the Jungle Chocobo.
My biggest mistake: We must always keep one thing in mind. The Choco Jump must always be ready for use as well and as long as possible! If we ignite the Choco Jump just like that or at the wrong moment, we may not have any charge left for the important obstacles. That would be fatal and border on self-sabotage.
So make sure that the Choco Jump is always fully charged when you need it.Think briefly about where the biggest and most frequent obstacles are on each route (one after the other in a cluster) and then always activate the skill at these obstacle-rich points.
The good thing about this ability is that it runs over a counter.This means that we can use it for a little longer.
And if we also collect red balloons after activating it, the expiry time even goes back a little.This means that we can extend the ability in the active state of the Choco Jump if we want to.
You can always decide not to collect a red balloon if you want to start recharging from scratch.
And this is also very important, because the ability is currently active and one way or another we will have to start charging again from 0 at some point. But if you start recharging too late, you’ll miss the big obstacles. And we don’t want that, do we?
A final tip for the races
Finally, a little tip: Did you know that you don’t need a Choco jump to jump over the obstacles in many water areas? Many water areas have a small area on the far left and far right where you can run (i.e. almost right at the edge).
This means that you can run right along the edge and thus avoid many obstacles directly, while at the same time saving the Choco Jump charge for obstacles (such as reactor gates) that you cannot avoid. Easy game, easy life.
